Just an Average Joe - Korean War veteran Jim Byers

Airman, April, 2001 by Louis A. Arana-Barradas

Though his heart was pounding through his temples, Byers said OK. He'd even brought his own rifle and helmet.

The 15-man patrol set out along a well-worn path. After a while, the point man found signs that enemy soldiers were in the area. Byers was choking on adrenaline.

"I thought, 'Lord help me, if the enemy's ahead, just let me die quickly,"' he said.

Byers spotted the first Chinese soldier. The guy behind him yelled, "Shoot him before he shoots you. The airman didn't freeze up.

"I was so scared I emptied 30 rounds into the guy," Byers said. The rest of the platoon opened fire on other Chinese. They killed several enemy soldiers and suffered no casualties.

After the platoon leader filed a report to headquarters, the soldiers went back to their camp. There, Byers bid his buddy good-bye and took off for Osan, all in the same stride. It's the only bad experience he had in Korea, and one he doesn't like to talk about.

"He only told me and the kids about It 10 years ago," said Kathryn, his wife of 42 years.

The cease-fire took effect in Korea a month after his close encounter. Both sides dug in along the Demilitarized Zone and set up their defenses, where they remain today.

In September 1953, Byers went home, without a scratch. But more than 54,000 Americans died during the war.

After 30 days of leave, he went to Germany. From there, he did tours in Alabama and California. Then Byers returned to Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. By then, he'd decided to make the Air Force a career. He also set his sights on going to college.

The day he arrived at Maxwell, he noticed a "beautiful gal in a tight yellow sweater" who made his eyes pop out. He asked her out to dinner the next day. She accepted.

"We had spaghetti at an Italian restaurant," Kathryn said. "He knew how to treat a lady."

Not all Gls are bad

After a whirlwind courtship -- and convincing her father that not all GIs were bad -- they married in September 1958. The couple soon had the first of four children.

It was while trying to get Into aircrew training -- after seven years in the service -- that Byers found out he had to use his GI Bill or lose it. He opted to get out and go to school.

"I loved the Air Force," he said. "Getting out was one of the toughest decisions of my life."

His GI Bill helped him get his bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Then he went to work for the Navy in 1963. He started working in thermodynamics -- calculating aircraft engine performance. Then he ran the Navy's advanced research and development programs for aircraft engines until 1984 when he moved to Pennsylvania to work on engine failure prediction measures until he retired In 1989.

But he never forgot where he got his start. He said the seven years he spent in the Air Force were his formative years.

"I was a kid when I joined the Air Force," he said. "The Air Force gave my life direction."

The Byerses retired to Jamison, Pa., and have four grandchildren. Keeping them company is a chubby, deaf and slightly blind dog, Max, who barks at people from the back yard.